CEA member Traci Arway is leading the fight against Issue 2

CEA member Traci Arway at the Columbus taping of MSNBC's "Ed Show" earlier this fall.

Members of the Columbus Education Association have fought Senate Bill 5 (now Issue 2 on the November ballot) since it was introduced in the Ohio Senate in February of this year.

The CEA Blog is showcasing the hard work of CEA members who are leading the way to make sure Ohioans vote NO on Issue 2 and SB 5 in November.

One such CEA member is Traci Arway, an 11-year veteran of CCS. For the past seven years, Arway has taught students with multiple disabilities at Livingston ES. She and her husband, Whetstone HS Kevin Arway have two young children.

“I remember when I first heard about SB 5. I was in my living room, and got a text message from Greg Mild. He had posted something on Facebook and told me to check it out. That was when I was sense of what things were at stake and how scary it was.

Since that time, Traci has been highly involved in fighting SB 5 since February, attending countless rallies, circulated petitions and helped enter petition data at SEIU. She also marched in We Are Ohio’s “We The People Parade” to deliver more than 1.3 million signatures collected to put SB 5 on the ballot.

“The thought of Issue 2 passing makes me sick, literally,” said Arway. “I think a lot of people don’t realize how hard our profession will become for us if this we don’t get enough people to vote NO on Issue 2.”

Traci knew that because of her two young children she wouldn’t be able to participate in Issue 2 canvass activities in the fall. She refocused her anti-Issue 2 energies through We Are Ohio’s “Friends, Families and Neighbors” (FFN) campaign.

Her hard work has paid off– the campaign’s leaderboard shows that Traci is the second most active volunteer statewide using FFN.

“Friends, Families and Neighbors is a great way to get in touch with people if you aren’t able to go out and canvass or participate in phonebanking,” said Arway.

“I’m fighting because Issue 2 directly impacts everyone in my family and everyone in Ohio,” she continued. “I don’t want to wake up on November 9th and have the regret that I should have done more. We all have to do our part.”

Joining the movement to take back our schools and Ohio is just a click away. To download instructions on how to use this program, go to http://bit.ly/helpwao or go straight to http://waofriends.com to get started building your team.